The Supreme Court on Oct. 7 declined to hear the case Becerra v. State of Texas, upholding a unanimous January appeals court ruling that blocked the Biden-Harris administration from forcing emergency room doctors to perform abortions.

“[The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit] correctly ruled that federal bureaucrats have no business compelling doctors or hospitals to end unborn lives,” said Matt Bowman, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). “Emergency room physicians can, and do, treat life-threatening conditions such as ectopic pregnancies. And every state allows doctors to do whatever is necessary to preserve the life of a mother. But elective abortion is not life-saving care—it ends the life of the unborn child—and the government has no authority to force doctors to perform these dangerous procedures.”

ADF represents the State of Texas, the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians & Gynecologists and the Christian Medical & Dental Associations in this case.

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, the Biden administration attempted to override individual states’ abortion laws under the 1986 Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), part of the Social Security Act.

However, ADF argued and the 5th Circuit Court ruled that EMTALA does not mandate any specific medical treatment and says nothing to mandate abortion. In fact, EMTALA requires stabilizing treatment that would protect both a mother and her unborn child in the event of a medical emergency—and Texas law already, according to court documents, did not constitute treatment of miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy as abortion at the time Roe v. Wade was overturned. The 5th Circuit Court rejected the Biden administration’s attempt to “expand the scope of EMTALA” to require abortion where the law does not, and the Supreme Court upheld that decision.

“Doctors shouldn’t be forced to break the Hippocratic Oath, and they shouldn’t have to choose between violating their deeply held beliefs or facing stiff financial penalties and being barred from the Medicare program,” Bowman said. “We are pleased that the Supreme Court decided the 5th Circuit’s ruling should stand, allowing emergency rooms to fulfill their primary function—saving lives.”

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